Nice job Jill. Fatty needs all the help he can get and you provided a great post. Can't wait for my book order to come in. I am one of those who will most likely read in one day. I'll let you know my thoughts

I'm a Fatty reader, and I had to check out your blog after reading your post. It's pretty exciting for me to find a blog about playing in conditions that are quite similar to where I live. I think this is just the motivation I need.

BTW, I think I'm going to put platform pedals on my old mountain bike and wear my snow boots with that. Wow, what a great idea!

Seriously, call Outside Magazine and tell them you are ready to come get your job! Because of you, I have no excuses not to ride, no matter the conditions, and I have found it in my heart to forgive you for what you did to Sugar.

I got back from four days at a tradeshow and your book was waiting for me. I ripped off four chapters while leaning over the kitchen island. Great stuff and I cannot wait to get back at it. Needless to say it was in the mid twenties when I was getting ready for work and although I was whining about the cold - I started thinking about you crawling through the snow with your bike and eating frozen cranberries and all of a sudden I ran out of excuses. You are an inspiration to many and I feel you are destined for many great things in your life. Thank you for sharing the good as well as the bad. Ride on!

1. Wake up, go to window, look outside. Note that it is either snowing, raining, it's really cold out, or the wind is blowing really hard. Complain about today's miserable weather, complain about yesterday's miserable weather, complain about last week's miserable weather, complain that the weather has basically sucked for months. Decide not to move somewhere warmer, and just go out and ride your bike.

2. Pick the clothes you need to wear for your bike ride based upon the weather outside. Complain that the last few jackets you've had that were marketed as breathable but waterproof were anything but after a few rides in the rain. Put on your big boots, make note of the fact that you're riding flat pedals because clipless ones don't work with big boots.

3. Ride your bike. Maybe try to ride your bike, but realise you can't, because you've been putting off maintenance work on it and it's not functioning properly. Pick another bike to ride.

4. Actually get on your bike and ride it. Complain about the weather again, complain about the condition of the roads. Make comment about which of the 100 varieties of snow is falling today. Complain that the wind is blowing really hard and the rain and snow is coming down horizontally. Complain about how boring it is to ride in the same miserable weather day after day. Complain your latest breathable waterproof jacket really isn't. Make insightfull comment about how riding in such miserable conditions makes you a stronger person.

5. Take your bike offroad and go up into the mountains. Complain about how the conditions of the snow today aren't really suitable for snow biking. Complain that because of the effort you're getting sweated up inside your so-called breathable jacket. Almost crash a few times because of the lack of traction in the lousy snow conditions. Push your bike.

6. Decide you want to go hiking up in the mountains. Hide your bike it the woods, hope nobody else can find it, hope later on YOU can find it. Complain about how deep the snow is, complain how cold it is, complain how windy it is. Decide to push on even higher up into the mountains. Complain that it's even colder and windier up there. Get lost in the fog for awhile and lose your bearings, find your way out of the fog. Almost kill yourself by falling in the snow or walking on dangerous ground.

7. Make your way to the top of the mountain. Take pictures for your blog. Note that the view up there is great and that everybody should experience something like this. Make insightfull comment about how the view from the top of the mountain is really a deep metaphor for life in general. Decide you are in a much better place than the people in the lower 48 states like California. Nobody wants to read a blog about someone constantly complaining about Disneyworld and the In-And-Out Burgers of California, however they will read a blog about someone constantly complaining about the weather in Alaska. Make a mental note about how boring your job is, but decide to do nothing about it. Realise how cold it is on top of the mountain and complain about how you should have dressed more warmly for your hiking trip. Realise suddenly that it's really late and you need to get to work soon.

8. Hike back down the mountain. Almost kill yourself by falling again, or by getting stuck in deep snow. Have a close encounter with a bear along the trail and hope it doesn't see you. Try and locate your bicycle that you've hidden earlier. Try not to crash going downhill from the lousy snow conditions.

9. Ride your bicycle back home. Pedal furiously because you've spent too much time on top of the mountain and you'll be late for work if you don't. Complain about the weather again, complain about how cold it is, complain about how tired you feel, complain how cold you are and that you didn't dress warmly enough. Complain about how you're soaked from either the rain getting through your so-called waterproof jacket, or from the sweat inside ofit because it isn't breathable enough. Complain how much badly the weather has turned from the start of your ride. Complain that you didn't eat enough during your ride and don't have time to eat something before work. Get home, eat Pop Tart, and wash it down with a diet Pepsi. Get shower in order to defrost from your bike ride and to get ready for work.

10. Get ready to go to work. Pack up stuff for the bike commute and take off. Complain about the weather again. Hope you didn't forget any clothes or anything you need for work. Make mental note to possibly sell your car and to rely strictly on bicycle commuting. Arrive at work. get changed out of your wet and sweaty bicycle clothes and into you work outfit. Complain about how stressfull or boring work is, but do nothing about it.

11. Leave work. Change out of your work clothes and into your bike clothes. Complain about the weather on your ride home again. Make mental note about how nice it is to have a car to drive on some days. Get home and blog about the day's events.

Heidi - I didn't even notice that communcation tower until you pointed it out. And that's the view out my back porch. Funny. When did that go in?

Felix - I've heard mixed things about hydrolic brakes on snow bikes. But basically, I've heard the systems need to be flushed out more often if used in cold weather. There also is the chance in extreme cold that the liquid could freeze.

HWB - thanks. I hope Sugar has forgiven me too.

Botched - I've been doing a lot of riding lately on my 29er Karate Monkey with Nokians. It's been great for the trail riding we have right now - a couple inches of hard, crusty snow and some ice. A 29er will also work fine on hard-packed snowmobile trails and the like. They Pugsley only really becomes an advantage when the conditons become looser. If you ride in snow all the time, I think eventually the Pugsley becomes a must. But if you go out only occasionally for fun, the 29er will work fine.

Anon ... always good for a chuckle. I do find it humorous that you see my blog as a mirror of my miserable exsistence, but yet you continue to read it (and remember shockingly minor details.) For the record, I don't believe I'm miserable, and will continue not to be convinced of how depressed I should be regardless of how much you type.

I'm just mainly here for the pictures. That, and the drama. Most peoples' blogs don't have close encounters with bears, blizzards, and hypothermia. Some of the ones I've read are really really dull.

As far as minor details goes I've found some things unintentionally funny that most people probably wouldn't even notice. Case in point...you posted a landscape picture one time with your handlebars in the bottom of the picture. The bolts on the stem were covered in rust. First thing that went through my mind was...wow that bike has a steel frame.... with all the saltwater, rain, and snow she rides through I wonder what the inside of the headtube, fork, seatube, and cables look like ?. Unless somebody has owned a steel frame and ridden it in those conditions they probably even think about something like that.